Why Choose Flax Oil?
There’s no denying that the word is out as far as the importance of healthy fats for your body. If you still don’t know why you need fats or how much, check out our recent blog post on the subject, here.
Flax oil is celebrated as a plant-source high in omega–3 fatty acids: the kind you need most.
The biggest criticism of flax oil is that, unlike fish oil, it does not contain EPA or DHA, only ALA (alpha-linolenic acid). While some of the ALA is converted into EPA and DHA by your body, not all of it gets converted.
The good news is, while EPA and DHA are very important, you still get many important benefits from ALA on its own… but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Why Choose Flax Oil for ALA?
Flaxseeds are known worldwide for their high ALA content. Many people choose freshly ground flaxseeds over flaxseed oil because they want the lignans and fiber, as well as the healthy fat. Makes sense.
Well, it seems that there is good reason to include flaxseed oil in your diet as well. A 2008 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition showed that ALA absorption in individuals who ate flaxseed oil was “significantly higher” than in people who ate milled flaxseeds. People who ate whole flaxseeds appeared to absorb no ALA at all.
The study’s authors concluded that the ALA in flax oil is much more bioavailable than the ALA in either whole or ground flaxseeds (that means you absorb more of it).
It would seem that the best way to get all of the benefits of flaxseeds is to eat both flax oil and freshly ground flaxseeds.
You can combine the two in a smoothie or eat them separately, using the oil in a salad dressing and the milled seeds sprinkled on yogurt for example.
Still wondering why you would even want that ALA?
ALA: What is it good for?
Alpha-linoleic acid has a lot of great benefits, with little to no risk. Studies have shown that ALA is great for reducing joint pain and stiffness.
There is also preliminary research pointing to ALA’s effectiveness for treating autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Other research shows that it may improve lung function in asthma sufferers, prevent breast cancer, improve symptoms of colon disorders and reduce menstrual pain.
There have even been promising studies showing its benefits for people at risk of depression.
When it comes to heart health, livestrong.com reports many great reasons to get more ALA: “One study done on women found that those who consumed 1.5 grams of ALA per day had a 46 percent lower risk of sudden cardiac death than those who consumed less than 1/2 gram per day. ALA also helps to increase the healthy HDL cholesterol levels and decrease the unhealthy LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. In addition, several studies have found that ALA can help to lower high blood pressure significantly in individuals with hypertension.”
Perfect Press® Flax Oil is the best quality flax oil available anywhere. This oil is pressed using proprietary technology that ensures absolutely zero damage to the delicate properties of the oil.
The seeds that this oil is pressed from are organic and non-GMO and carefully selected from the best in the world.
For pure, undamaged flax oil that will give you the most benefits, select Perfect Press®.
Comments
Please note that the views expressed in comments on our blog do not necessarily reflect the views of Activation Products and are exclusively the opinions of individual commenters. Any experiences described by individual commenters cannot be said to be typical and may not be experienced by all users.
To report abuse, please email [email protected].
